Demographic Characteristics and Clinical Features of Fibromyalgia in China: A Cross-Sectional Study

The aim of this study is to characterize the demographics, fibromyalgia-related symptom severity and quality of life (QOL) among Chinese fibromyalgia patients.

A total of 124 patients who met the ACR 1990 criteria were recruited. Each subject completed a packet of questionnaires for collecting data on the demographics, medical history and severity of six major symptoms of fibromyalgia (i.e., pain, fatigue, sleep quality, depression, stress and QOL).

The majority of the study subjects were women (86.3%), were married (78.2%) and had a mean age of 49.4 years and a median symptom duration of 24 months. Compared to their female counterparts, male patients were younger, were more likely to be employed, had a higher income and were more likely to be current smokers and alcohol drinkers (all p ≦ 0.027). Most patients experienced moderate to severe pain (69.4%), severe fatigue (70.2%) and moderate to severe depression (53.3%). A small percentage (19.4%) of the patients had very poor quality of sleep, and over one third (37.1%) suffered from moderate to severe stress. Less than one third (27.5%) patients' health status was moderately or highly impacted by fibromyalgia. The mental health of men was affected significantly more than that of women, with lower SF-36 scores in the SF-36 mental component summary (p = 0.043) and role emotional (p = 0.006).

This study has revealed that Chinese fibromyalgia patients might share similar demographics but milder fibromyalgia-related symptoms and better mental QOL compared to patients of other races and ethnic groups. Some differences between male and female patients were found, too. Further cross-sectional studies with a larger sample size and nationwide study sites are needed to replicate those clinical findings.